Huckabee, Vance Clash Over Israel and GOP Voters

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said Vice President JD Vance was wrong to claim that voters who supported President Donald Trump abandoned the Republican Party in the midterms over Trump's support for Israel. Huckabee’s evidence was a poll figure: he said only 19% of Republicans shared the view he was asked about. The argument over voters’ motives played out alongside a second question about whether Trump might intervene in Israel’s inconclusive election results.

Who Speaks for the Voters?

"I don't agree with that because I don't think that's where voters are," Huckabee said in an interview with Channel 12 news. He then pointed to polls and argued that concern about the issue belonged mainly to Democrats on the far left. "In fact, if you look at the polls, the only group of people in America that really think that that's an important issue are the Democrats on the far left. Only 19% of Republicans even have that same view."

Huckabee’s answer disputed Vance’s account, but the remarks provided no poll name, sample size, or other figures beyond the 19% he cited. The dispute is about how Republican voters responded to Trump’s support for Israel; Huckabee framed that response as marginal among Republicans, while rejecting Vance’s explanation of the party’s midterm losses. The available statements don’t settle the disagreement. They show two senior Republican figures offering different accounts of what voters did and why.

An Official Distance, With a Door Open

Asked whether Trump might weigh in or help form a coalition government after Israel’s inconclusive election results last week, Huckabee said it was possible. "He might — he's certainly capable of doing something like that if it felt like it was the right thing and the right time to do it," he said.

That possibility sat beside the official position Huckabee described for the U.S. government and the embassy: they take no position on the Israeli election. "It's not our responsibility. We don't want to touch that," he said. The distinction is plain in his account. The government and embassy, he said, are staying out; Trump might still decide to act.

Huckabee did not say Trump had decided to intervene. He described a conditional possibility, tied to whether Trump thought it was the right thing and the right time. The exchange leaves the question of political influence hanging without claiming that any intervention has taken place.

The White House as a Possible Venue

Huckabee said Trump "surprises me often with things that he says or does." He also said Trump could potentially invite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yashar party chief Gadi Eisenkot to the White House for talks. The invitation was presented as a possibility, not as a scheduled meeting or a decision already made.

So the official account holds two positions at once: the U.S. government and embassy say the Israeli election is not their responsibility, while Huckabee leaves open a role for Trump, including talks at the White House. The source gives no further details about what such talks would address or whether they would happen. For now, Huckabee has challenged Vance’s reading of Republican voters, cited one poll figure, and described possible presidential involvement in Israel’s coalition politics without saying it has begun.